2 months ago

2 months ago

2 months ago

Paul Jordan of Wildcat Blue Blog is the RTC correspondent for the Southeastern Conference.

EAST

Kentucky 20-1 (5-1)

Vanderbilt 16-4 (5-1)

Tennessee 16-4 (4-2)

Florida 15-6 (4-3)

South Carolina 13-8 (4-3)

Georgia 9-10 (1-5)

WEST

Mississippi State 16-5 (4-2)

Mississippi 16-5 (4-3)

Arkansas 10-11 (3-3)

Alabama 13-8 (3-4)

Auburn 11-11 (2-5)

LSU 9-12 (0-7)

Both races in the East and the West are shaping up to be fierce battles to the end, but the East is taking an especially entertaining turn. Kentucky found out the perils of paying on the road as a number one team as their reign at number one lasted barely 24 hours, as South Carolina and Devan Downey knocked them from their throne, 68-62. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, pulled off a big upset at Knoxville and had a chance to take a two game lead in the East but could not handle the resurgent Wildcats at Rupp Arena, who forced a tie atop the East at 5-1. Tennessee kept themselves in the race with a thrilling win over Florida on Sunday to remain just a game back. Kentucky fell to #3 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and #4 in the AP Top 25 after their one-and-done turn at the top of the polls. Tennessee also took a tumble to 14th in both polls after losing to Vanderbilt this week, and the Commodores are 18th in the AP Top 25 and 20th in the ESPN/USA Today. Ole Miss fell out of the ESPN/Today poll after a shocking loss to Arkansas on Sunday and are clinging to the 25th spot in the AP Top 25. In weekly honors, Arkansas’s Marshawn Powell took home SEC Freshman of the Week honors and South Carolina’s Devan Downey was named the SEC player of the week. GAMES OF THE WEEK

Kentucky (#4, #3) — Kentucky played nothing like the #1 team in the country as they missed 18 layups and lost a 68-62 game on the road to South Carolina this past Tuesday. DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead Kentucky, and John Wall added 19 points. Those two accounted for 46 of the Wildcats’ 62 points, and that lack of a third scorer was a main reason UK fell. Kentucky bounced back from their loss to South Carolina with a convincing 85-72 win over the hot Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday. UK jumped out to a 13 point lead 10 minutes into the game and controlled the final 30 minutes, keeping the lead in double digits the entire way. Cousins had another double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Darnell Dodson scored 16 points while getting a rare start to lead UK.

Vanderbilt (#18, #20) — Jermaine Beal scored 25 points and Vanderbilt won its 10th straight game with an 85-76 victory over No. 14 Tennessee on Wednesday night. It was Vandy’s first win in Knoxville in five tries and its first win over a ranked opponent this season. A.J. Ogilvy added 12 points and three other Commodores hit double digits as Vandy shot 50.7% for the game. Vanderbilt fell behind Kentucky early at Rupp Arena in that Saturday game and could never regroup, falling 85-72 to the Wildcats. The Commodores were outrebounded 39-21 by the Wildcats. Beal led the way for Vandy with 19 points and shot 4-8 from beyond the arc. Ogilvy added 12 for the Commodores.

Tennessee (#14, #14) — J.P Prince scored 22 points on 9-10 shooting but it was not enough for the Volunteers to defend their home court in a 85-76 loss to Vanderbilt. Scotty Hopson and Bobby Maze added 14 and 12 points, respectively, as the Vols fell to 3-2 in the SEC. Hopson hit a jumper with :17 remaining to give the Volunteers a thrilling 61-60 win over the Florida Gators on Sunday. The shot allowed the Vols to notch their sixth straight win over the Gators. Wayne Chism had 16 points and 11 boards to lead the Vols and help them avoid a three game losing streak.

Florida — Alex Tyus scored 23 points, Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton added 21 apiece, and Florida beat Georgia on Wednesday, 87-71. The Gators extended their winning streak to four and continued their recent domination in the series. Florida has won 12 of their last 13 meetings versus the Bulldogs. Tyus missed a short jumper with five seconds left and, in a game televised nationally on CBS this past Sunday, the Gators went down to a sixth straight loss in games against Tennessee. Tyus led the Gators with 18 points, and Chandler Parsons added 14. Parsons hit a late 3-pointer to give the Gators a lead, and was in a position to hit his third game-winning shot of the year. A Scotty Hopson jumper dashed those dreams and gave UT the lead for good.

South Carolina — Devan Downeytook nearly half his team’s shots and threw in 30 points to lead his Gamecocks to a 68-62 win over Kentucky. Downey took over the game during the closing minutes and the Wildcats had no answer on covering him. Brandis Raley-Ross added 17 points and gave the Gamecocks another scoring option they had been lacking recently. Kentucky was the first #1 team that the Gamecocks have defeated in eight attempts. Downey had 33 points, including the driving basket with 50 seconds left, that gave South Carolina a 78-77 victory over Georgia on Saturday. The Gamecocks trailed 63-54 with less than 10 minutes remaining but then Downey scored 12 out of the Gamecocks’ final 24 points down the stretch. Sam Muldrow added 19 points and 11 boards for South Carolina.

Georgia — Ricky McPhee drained five three pointers and scored 21 points on Wednesday, but the Bulldogs were still blown out by the Gators, 87-71. The Bulldogs were, in effect, a three man team with Trey Thompkins scoring 24 and Travis Leslie adding 11/8/4 in the loss. The two other players Georgia started scored a total of just eight points and the Bulldogs wasted a 59% shooting night in a 16 point loss. Georgia’s had it’s share of tough losses this season, but the 78-77 loss at South Carolina on Saturday may have been its toughest. The Bulldogs became the latest team that could not control Devan Downey down the stretch as he hit the game winner with :50 left. Leslie and Thompkins had 21 and 18 points, respectively.

WEST

Mississippi State — Ravern Johnson scored 19 points to lead Mississippi State, but the Bulldogs blew an 11 point lead and lost to Arkansas on Thursday night, 67-62. Barry Stewart and Kodi Augustus respectively scored 11 and 10 points. Augustus added 10 boards for the double-double and Jarvis Varnado grabbed 14 rebounds. Three days later, the Bulldogs snapped a two game SEC skid as Mississippi State beat LSU, 67-51. Johnson led the way with 15 points and Varnado had another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to aid the Bulldogs’ cause. Phil Turner added 12 points off the bench for Mississippi State.

Mississippi (#25, –) — Chris Warren scored 20 points, Terrico White had 19 and the Rebels weathered Auburn’s 3-point shooting before pulling out an 84-74 victory. The Rebels shot 57% overall, and scored 46 points in the paint. They got 53 points from their three starting guards, including 14 from Eniel Polynice. The Rebels won back to back road games in the SEC for the first time in nine seasons. The Ole Miss Rebels lost a big chance to hold on to first place in the West as they were upset at home by the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sunday. Warren and Polynice had 17 and 15 points, respectively, but White suffered through a 3-14 shooting night.

Arkansas — Courtney Fortson scored a career-high 35 points, carrying Arkansas through the second half as the Razorbacks rallied for a 67-62 win over Mississippi State this past Thursday. Fortson scored 33 of his points in the second half, repeatedly drawing fouls and converting inside, despite his 5’11 frame. Arkansas trailed 49-38 at one point but came back to earn a much-needed victory. Stefan Walsh hit three 3-pointers and added 12 points off the bench. After winning two games in the Southeastern Conference last season, Arkansas is suddenly 3-3 and has notched back-to-back wins over Western Division-leading teams. The latest upset came at Oxford on Sunday as Arkansas dumped the Ole Miss Rebels, 80-73. Michael Washington scored 22 points, Marshawn Powell added 19, and Rotnei Clarke posted 18 for the Jekyl-and-Hyde Razorbacks.

Alabama — The Crimson Tide held the toothless LSU Tigers to just 13 points in the second half on Wednesday and blew LSU out, 57-38. Charvez Davis scored 15 points off the bench in just 18 minutes to lead the Crimson Tide while Mikhail Torrance and Tony Mitchell both scored 10 points. Mitchell added 10 boards for a double-double in that one. Everytime Alabama takes a step forward and seems like a contender in the West, they take a step or two back. Such was the case in Alabama’s 58-57 loss to Auburn on Saturday. Torrance led the way with 13 points an added 10 points. Auburn – The Auburn Tigers hit 11 three-pointers, including five by Tay Waller, but it was not enough to hold off the Ole Miss Rebels on Thursday night. Waller scored 21 points in the 84-74 loss. DeWayne Reed had 15 points and Lucas Hargrove 10 as the Tigers dropped a tough one on their home court. Hargrove hit a free throw with three seconds left on Saturday to lift Auburn to a 58-57 win over Alabama. The Crimson Tide led 55-51 with 2:58 left in the game, but Hargrove, who finished with 14 points, had a dunk and converted a three-point play to cut Alabama’s lead to 57-56. Waller hit 3 3-pointers and scored 20 points, continuing his hot play.

LSU – The Tigers had a dreadful night on Wednesday, shooting just 29.2% from the field and 11.1% from long range as LSU suffered a 57-38 loss to Alabama. LSU scored just 13 points in the second half. Tasmin Mitchell and Dennis Harris “led” the Tigers wiwth 8 points each. LSU suffered through yet another horrid shooting stretch as they suffered a 67-51 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. The Tigers shot just 34% from the floor and Mitchell was the only Tiger in double digits with 26 points — more than half his team’s total.

Paul Jordan of Wildcat Blue Blog is the RTC correspondent for the Southeastern Conference.

EAST:

Kentucky 17-0 (2-0)

Vanderbilt 12-3 (1-0)

South Carolina 10-5 (1-0)

Tennessee 12-2 (0-0)

Florida 11-5 (0-2)

Georgia 8-6 (0-1)

WEST:

Mississippi State 13-3 (1-0)

Alabama 11-4 (1-0)

Arkansas 7-8 (0-0)

Mississippi 12-3 (0-1)

LSU 9-6 (0-1)

Auburn 9-7 (0-1)

News & Notes

A couple of off-court situations were resolved for two SEC teams. Courtney Fortson made his first appearance for the Arkansas Razorbacks as his long suspension is now over. As for the other situation, all-SEC guard Tyler Smith was dismissed from the Tennessee Volunteers for drug and weapon charges and the fates of three other Vols still hang in the balance.

Speaking of Tennessee, you probably heard — they pulled off the upset of the week when they knocked off #1 Kansas 76-68 on Sunday afternoon. They were not the only SEC team to pull off a big out-of-conference upset last week as the Georgia Bulldogs knocked off #17 Georgia Tech, 73-66.

Thanks to the Volunteers, Kentucky now occupies the #2 spot in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today polls. Tennessee, for their efforts, did creep back into the top 10 at #9 in the AP Top 25 and #10 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Ole Miss continues to represent as the third SEC team in the Top 25 — #21st in AP Top 25, and 23rd in the ESPN/USA Today. Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Florida continue to swim in the “receiving votes” pool.

Tennessee’s Bobby Maze was named SEC Player of the Week after averaging 14.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 5.5 APG in wins over Charlotte and No. 1 Kansas. Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins named SEC Freshman of the Week after he averaged 13.0 PPG and 4.0 RPG in wins over Middle Tennessee and Florida.

Kentucky (#2, #2) — DeMarcus Cousins scored seven of his 16 points in the final three minutes as the Wildcats stayed unbeaten with a gritty 76-68 win over Georgia on Saturday. UK jumped out to a 21-10 lead and the Bulldogs responded with a 21-5 run and it was nip/tuck the rest of the way. Patrick Patterson and John Wall also scored 17 points apiece for the Wildcats. The came right back on Tuesday with a road game at the O-Dome in Gainesville and took out the Gators, 89-77. Eric Bledsoe keyed the ‘Cats with an incredible 25/7/5 asst night on 10-13 shooting. Wall added 19/4/6 assts and the always steady Patterson chipped in 15/7 as Kentucky had to hold off a Florida team that got hot from three midway through the second half. We’ll have even more on this one in next week’s SEC summary.

Vanderbilt — A.J. Ogilvy responded to being back in the starting lineup and scored 24 points, and Vanderbilt opened the Southeastern Conference schedule beating Florida, 95-87, on Saturday for the Commodores’ sixth straight victory. Jermaine Beal added 22 points and Jeffrey Taylor had a perfect shooting day (5-5 FG, 4-4 FT) to add 14 points for the Commodores.

South Carolina — The Gamecocks got exactly what the doctor ordered on Saturday with a 88-58 pounding of the Longwood Lancers as South Carolina readied for conference play. Devan Downey scored 18 points but the Gamecocks also got 15 points from Evaldas Baniulus off the bench. Ramon Galloway also hit double digits with 12 points. Downey then poured in 33 points with four 3-pointers as the Gamecocks opened SEC play with a 80-71 win over the Auburn Tigers on Saturday. South Carolina hit 11 3-pointers on the game and broke open a 52-all tie with an 8-0 run to break open the game. Sam Muldrow added 12 points and 4 blocked shots.

Tennessee (#9, #10) — The Volunteers really did not know what to expect when they came into their game against Charlotte with four players suspended. What the Vols found was new faces to step up as they breezed by the Charlotte 49ers, 88-71. Wayne Chism scored 18 points and Scotty Hopson added 17 and the Vols, with just six scholarship players, shot 57.6% with all five starters scoring in double figures. And of course Tennessee pulled off their second big win of the week with the 76-68 upset of #1 Kansas on Sunday. Hopson had 17 and Bobby Maze added 16, but the lasting image of this game was walk-on Skylar McBee milking the shot clock late in the game and then delivering a duck-under three point dagger to the heart of the Kansas Jayhawks.

Florida — Kenny Boynton scored 28 points (including six 3-pointers) and Erving Walker added 22 (with five treys) but it was not enough as the Gators fell 95-87 to the Vanderbilt Commodores despie tossing in 13 3-pointers for the game. The Gators hadn’t lost an SEC opener since 2001 at South Carolina. On Tuesday night the faced the formidable #2 Kentucky Wildcats and hoped to score a sixth straight home win over the Big Blue, but 20 points from Walker and 17/7 from Alex Tyus couldn’t propel the Gators past UK; the Rowdy Reptiles went home disappointed as Florida went down, 89-77.

Georgia — Trey Thompkins scored 20 points, Ricky McPhee hit two key baskets near the end and Georgia pulled off its first big victory for new coach Mark Fox, knocking off #17 Georgia Tech, 73-66, on Tuesday night. McPhee had four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. The Bulldogs showed their win over Georgia Tech was not a fluke as they battled Kentucky to the wire on Saturday before losing, 76-68. The Bulldogs cut the lead to two with 1:00 remaining but UK pulled away the last minute. Travis Leslie scored the first 10 points of the game for Georgia and finished with 20. Thompkins finished with 17.

WEST

Mississippi State — Dee Bost tied a career high with 25 points and fueled Mississippi State’s 80-75 upset of #16 Mississippi on Saturday with fearless drives to the basket. This was also a huge road win for the Bulldogs who opened SEC play against their biggest competition in the West. Ravern Johnson added 15 and Kodi Augustus had a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Alabama — Alabama looks to be the big surprise of the SEC as they continued their strong early play with a 66-49 win over LSU in the SEC opener for both teams. JaMychal Green scored 14 points to lead Alabama, while Senario Hillman and Mikhail Torrance added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Alabama now has a four game winning streak.

Arkansas — Courtney Fortson made his debut after a season long suspension and had 19 points/7 assists, but it was not enough to help his Razorbacks pull an upset over #2 Texas. Arkansas hung tough for about 38 of the 40 minutes but Texas pulled away at the end to win, 96-85. Rotnei Clarke added 24 points for the Razorbacks.

Mississippi (#21, #23) — Terrico White had five 3-pointers and scored 21 points to lead Ole Miss to a 84-56 thumping of the UCF Golden Knights. Ole Miss jumped out early and had a 46-24 halftime lead and the Knights never had a chance. Eniel Polynice had 16 points and Murphy Holloway had a double double with 11 points and 10 boards to help key the rout. On Saturday, the Rebels suffered a key early season home SEC loss against bitter rival Mississippi State, 80-75. Chris Warren led the Rebels with 15 points despite a 5-17 shooting night and Zach Graham and Terrance Henry had 14 points and 12 points, respectively, off the bench.

LSU — The troubles continue for LSU as they managed just 18 points in the first half against Alabama and lost their SEC opener 66-49 to the Crimson Tide. Bo Spencer scored 13 points, and Dennis Harris and Tasmin Mitchell added 12 and 11, respectively. Storm Warren got in early foul trouble and had just four points and a mere one rebound.

Auburn — DeWayne Reed scored 20 points to lead Auburn to a 96-72 victory against Division II West Georgia on Tuesday night. Frankie Sullivan scored 17 points and Tay Waller added 16 for the Tigers, who shot 52% from the field and outrebounded the Wolves, 40-29. Auburn could only manage two 3-pointers compared to South Carolina’s 11, and that was the difference in the game as Auburn dropped a tough game on Saturday, 80-71. Reserve Brendon Knox led Auburn with 22 points, Reed scored 19, Lucas Hargrove had 12 and Sullivan added 10 in the loss.

RTC contributor and bracketologist Zach Hayes will deliver ten permeating thoughts every Tuesday as the season progresses.

1. Other than Kansas students, graduates, former players and all former or current residents of Lawrence, was there anyone in this fine country of ours rooting for the #1 Jayhawks to beat a depleted Tennessee team, a group of kids and a stunned head coach that just dealt with the suspension and/or dismissal of four of its regular rotation players? All of the events that occurred in that two-hour window in Knoxville Sunday was a release of pent-up frustration and anxiety from a tumultuous week in which Tennessee was considered a prime threat to upend favorite Kentucky in the SEC one day and counted out as a SEC contender that must scratch and claw the final two months for an NCAA berth the next. Renaldo Woolridge banking in a three, the Vols maintaining their lead with Wayne Chism and J.P. Prince on the bench with four fouls, the coach’s son Steven taking a critical charge, a miracle Skyler McBee (one of three walk-ons playing substantial minutes) leaning trey that iced the game, and coach Bruce Pearl aiding the Volunteer mascot in waving the orange Tennessee flag while the sounds of Rocky Top reverberated throughout Thompson-Boling Arena summed up what college basketball should be about. Bill Self pointed this out after the game, but there are some moments during a season when a team officially becomes a team instead of a group of individuals. Even though Pearl would gladly reset the timer to New Year’s Eve and prevent four scholarship players from getting in that car, sometimes it takes a catastrophic occurrence that truly tests the mettle of a unit for them to band together and accomplish lofty goals. I think it’s fair to say Tennessee became a team Sunday night.

2. As long as Mike Anderson is employing his Forty Minutes of Hell hellacious press on demoralized opponents, especially on a home floor where his team has won 30 consecutive games, Missouri should never be totally counted out of the Big 12 race. Losing DeMarre Carroll, Leo Lyons and Matt Lawrence from an Elite 8 squad isn’t easy to overcome, and certainly the ceiling for the Tigers isn’t nearly as high, but the ultra-talented and quick Mizzou backcourt should have enough firepower to carry them to an NCAA berth. Missouri carried an impressive 12-3 record into their Big 12 opener with #10 Kansas State Saturday, yet their overall resume wasn’t incredibly awe-inspiring with their best wins over Old Dominion, Illinois, Georgia and Oregon and opportunities lost in defeats at the hands of Richmond, Vanderbilt and Oral Roberts. The win Saturday was clearly a statement that Missouri will be a contending force in the Big 12 for that #3 spot behind Texas and Kansas. Anderson looks to have a workable combination with experienced seniors J.T. Tiller and Zaire Taylor (evident by Taylor’s tie-breaking 3 with under a minute to play) making plays in late-game situations, a promising sophomore backcourt duo of Kim English and Marcus Denmon carrying most of the scoring load, and a defensive unit that ranks seventh overall in D efficiency, first in turnovers forced and gives Missouri a fighting chance on any night.

Paul Jordan of Wildcat Blue Blog is the RTC correspondent for the Southeastern Conference.

STANDINGS

EAST

Kentucky 15-0

Tennessee 10-2

Florida 11-3

Vanderbilt 11-3

South Carolina 8-5

Georgia 7-5

WEST

Mississippi State 12-3

Mississippi 11-2

Alabama 10-4

LSU 9-5

Auburn 8-6

Arkansas 7-7

NEWS & NOTES

The big story in the SEC this week was the arrest and indefinite suspension of four Tennessee basketball players — Tyler Smith, Melvin Goins, Cameron Tatum and Brian Williams. The group was arrested on a myriad of drug and weapon charges. Some of the charges were felonies, and given the recent problems with UT’s football program, it is hard to imagine any scenario in which the players may step back on the court this season. It is a big loss for the Vols, as the players had accounted for 33 points a game. Elsewhere, South Carolina dismissed forward Mike Holmes from the team for repeated rule violations. Holmes is the second starter lost this season for the Gamecocks as Dominique Archie was also lost for the season due to injury.

Kentucky continues to be the class of the SEC in the rankings, holding onto their #3 ranking in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today poll. Tennessee is #15 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and #16 in the AP Top 25. Mississippi remains the third ranked team at #14 in the AP poll and #16 in the ESPN/USA Today. Florida is hovering just outside the top 25 and may re-emerge with another strong week or two.

Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins was named SEC Player of the Week again after averaging 18.5 points and 15.0 rebounds in two Wildcat wins. Cousins also won the Freshman of the Week award last week for his double-double performances against Drexel and Long Beach State. This week, that honor goes to Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins, who averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3 assists in a pair of Commodore wins.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEK

The parade of cupcakes ends later this week as SEC play officially gets underway. What else really needs to be said? As of right now, the SEC has seven teams with 10 wins already, and you have to consider each strong tournament teams right now. Let’s see how these teams hold up as it goes within the conference from here on out.

Kentucky (#3, #3)—John Wall set a UK record for assists with 16 as UK crushed the Hartford Hawks 104-61 on Tuesday night. DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points and 12 boards and Darius Miller scored a season high 16 points to key the ’Cats win. On Saturday, Kentucky endured a sluggish first half and then pulled away in the second half to defeat bitter in-state rival Louisville 71-62. Cousins led the way with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Patrick Patterson and John Wall both had 17 points. Kentucky, at 15-0, is off to their best start in 40 years.

Tennessee (#16, #15)—Wayne Chism had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Tennessee dominated inside for a 66-59 victory over Memphis on New Year’s Eve. JP Prince and Tyler Smith had 12 and 11 to lead the Vols in the rivalry game.

Florida—Florida breezed to a 43-13 halftime lead against Presbyterian and then coasted for a 79-38 win. The Gators outrebounded the Blue Hose, yes, the Blue Hose, by a 48-24 margin. Chandler Parsons led the way with 21 points off the bench and Alex Tyus had 16 points and 13 boards while Erik Murphy had a double-double (16 pts, 11 boards) off the bench. Chandler Parsons hit a dramatic 75-foot shot as time expired in OT to give the Gators a 62-61 win over NC State. The three-pointer was Parson’s only FG of the game. Vernon Macklin had 14 points and Erving Walker 13 to lead the Gators in scoring.

Vanderbilt—Freshman reserve John Jenkins scored 15 points to lead Vanderbilt to an 86-48 victory over Manhattan. Eleven players scored for the Commodores, the third straight game that Vanderbilt had at least 10 players score. AJ Ogilvy also came off the bench to add 12 points. John Jenkins scored a career-high 20 points to lead Vanderbilt in an 82-46 rout of Southern Mississippi. The freshman guard was 6-of-6 from 3-point range and the Commodores shot a season-high 64.3 percent (9-for-14) from beyond the arc. Jeffery Taylor had 14 points off the bench and Ogilvy had 10 points in his return to the starting lineup as Vandy blasted Middle Tennessee 73-53. Vanderbilt proves to be one of the SEC’s deeper teams as five players scored in double figures.

South Carolina—The Gamecocks battled back from a 21-point halftime deficit, but it was not enough as they fell short to the Boston College Eagles 85-76. Devan Downey had 29 points and Brandis Raley-Ross 13, but SC fell to 8-4 on the season. Baylor made a clean sweep of its two games in the SEC, this time stopping the Gamecocks 85-74. Downey had 20 points and Lakeem Jackson 19 but it was not enough to stop the Gamecocks’ second loss of the week.

Georgia—Trey Thompkins had 12 points and 13 rebounds as the Bulldogs dusted the Pepperdine Waves 64-47. Travis Leslie and Ricky McPhee also scored in double digits for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were no match for the Missouri Tigers on Saturday as they were routed 89-61. Leslie was the only Bulldog in double digits with 18 points as the Bulldogs had only 6 assists against 23 turnovers.

WEST

Mississippi (#14, #16)—Ole Miss set a school record for three-pointers with 14 as they beat Jackson State 90-75. Terrico White hit 7 of 10 from beyond the arc and scored 29 points to lead the Rebels. Zach Graham added 14 points.

Mississippi State—Jarvis Varnado scored a season-high 23 points and tied his career-best 17 rebounds as Mississippi State won its ninth straight with a 77-68 victory over San Diego on New Year’s Eve. The Bulldogs used their superior inside game to take control of the game late in the first half and maintained its lead throughout the game. Kodi Augustus added 17 points. MSU also suffered a tough loss at the hand of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 55-52. Jarvis Varnado had 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs and Dee Bost added 13 off the bench.

Alabama—JaMychal Green scored 19 points and had eight rebounds to lead Alabama to a 77-65 victory over Tennessee State. Senario Hillman added 15 points and six assists for the Crimson Tide, who have won three of their past four games. Mikhail Torrance scored 19 points to lead Alabama over Toledo 67-50 on Monday night for their third straight win. Justin Knox added 14 points and Green had 12 for the Crimson Tide who have put together a three-game winning streak for the third time this season.

LSU—LSU is starting to look like a team that will not be able to compete in the SEC as they got thumped by Xavier 89-65. LSU has gotten blown out of a couple of matchups against NCAA-level teams so far this season. Bo Spencer, Tasmin Mitchell and Storm Warren accounted for 49 of the Tigers 65 points. The Tigers also blew a 12-point second half lead in the second half and went down to Utah, 61-59. Warren (21 points) and Mitchell (19 points) accounted for over two-thirds of the Tiger’s points. LSU snapped their three game losing streak with a 83-60 romp over McNeese State. Mitchell and Spencer had 19 and 18 points, respectively, to lead the Tigers.

Auburn—Lucas Hargrove had 20 points and 13 rebounds as Auburn overcame a sluggish start to beat Charleston Southern 77-62 on Tuesday night. The Tigers fell behind 22-15, but turned up the pressure and forced 22 turnovers. Frankie Sullivan added 10 points and six steals for Auburn. Brendon Knox scored 18 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double and Auburn defeated Georgia Southern 95-75. The Tigers shot a season-high 54.2 percent from three-point range (13 of 24), including a 4-5 effort by Sullivan who finished with 15 points.

Arkansas—The Razorbacks had a chance to get a good statement win but were blown out at home by Baylor, 70-47. Jemal Farmer, Rotnei Clark and Marshawn Powell were the only Razorbacks to show up as they scored 38 of Arkansas’s 47 points. Arkansas had a chance to redeem themselves against #24 UAB but suffered a heartbreaking 73-72 loss as UAB scored at the buzzer. The Hogs got good games from Powell (22), Washington (18), and Clark (16) but those three accounted for 56 of Arkansas’ 72 points.

Coming into this season, there were two main storylines to watch for the conference as a whole. The first was if the SEC, after a down year and having only three NCAA teams last year, could rebound and regain its status as an elite conference. The second one was if the influx of new talent in the SEC, both in the coaching and playing ranks, would help to raise the prestige level of the SEC.

The jury is out as to whether the SEC is going to be an elite conference this year. So far, the SEC has an unimpressive 32-12 record so far. There have been embarrassing losses, the key one being #19 Mississippi State losing to Rider by 14 points. Add to this the fact that the SEC have not knocked off a “name team,” yet. Just last night, #9 Tennessee lost to #6 Purdue and #24 Vanderbilt lost to Cincinnati. The East division is clearly the class of the league with a 17-5 record and all three of the SEC’s ranked teams residing in that division. So far, only Kentucky, Florida, and LSU have escaped the first two weeks of the season unscathed.